House Passes "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" 251 to 175The House of Representatives voted today on the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act," which bans direct federal funding of elective abortions and federal funding of insurance policies that cover elective abortions, such as policies that will be offered by Obamacare's exchanges in a few short years. The final tally was 251 to 175. Sixteen Democrats broke from their party to vote in favor of the bill.

House passes anti-abortion billThe Republican-led House passed a bill today to restrict taxpayer funding of abortions, as well as tax credits for private insurance plans that cover abortion

Tax-Funded Abortion Ban Would Cut Abortion From ObamacareThe bill will also mitigate concerns about abortion funding in the various loopholes in the Obamacare national health care bill that various pro-life organizations warned about during debate on the law. The legislation did not contain language banning funding of abortions in its provisions and HR 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, that the House will consider Wednesday, would fix that problem.

House Passes Complete Ban on Taxpayer Funding of AbortionsThe legislation combines several policies that must be enacted every year in Congressional battles and puts them into law where they will not be in jeopardy of being overturned every time Congress changes hands from pro-life lawmakers to those who support abortions.

5/6 Update:Consistency on Life and ConscienceAmong the measure’s many virtues as a bellwether of health policy are two of great significance: the subject of the bill—public funding of abortion—has been thoroughly debated for years, and the public mind about abortion funding has been remarkably consistent. In sharp contrast to last year’s hastily devised and debated health care reform, the federal role in abortion funding has been an almost perennial topic of debate in Congress since the introduction of the Hyde Amendment in 1976 by Henry Hyde, the late Congressman from Illinois who became its most eloquent champion.

Sen. Roger Wicker Introduces Senate Version - S. 906The bill would serve to standardize bans on abortion funding that now exist in various federal programs and make certain the prohibition extends to all agencies. It would make those bans permanent, eliminating a system in which many of them have to be reauthorized each year. The prohibition also would apply to last year's health-care reform law, which authorizes federal subsidies for insurance plans that cover abortion. In addition, it would establish conscience clause protections for pro-life, health-care providers.